Md.’s Own Katie Ledecky Wins USA Swimming Athlete Of Year

Gold medalist US swimmer Katie Ledecky poses with her medal on the podium during the award ceremony of the women's 800-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 3, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO

JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Olympic and world champion Katie Ledecky has been selected USA Swimming athlete of the year.

The 16-year-old swimmer from Bethesda, Md., won the award at the U.S. Aquatic Sports Convention on Saturday.

Ledecky also won the Phillips 66 Performance Award for her record-breaking swim in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the world championships in Spain this summer. She won in a world-record time of 15 minutes, 36.53 seconds, beating the field by 2.35 seconds and lowering the old mark by more than six seconds.

She won four gold medals and broke two world records at the world meet in Barcelona. She won the 400, 1,500 and 1,800 freestyles, and helped the U.S. win the 4×200 freestyle relay.

World champion Haley Anderson of Granite Bay, Calif., won the female open water swimmer of the year. Alex Meyer of Ithaca, N.Y., the national 10-kilometer champion, won the male open water swimmer award named for the late Fran Crippen.

Catherine Vogt, who served as head open water coach at worlds, received the Glen S. Hummer Award for making the greatest contribution to open water swimming for the year.

Ian Silverman, a Paralympic gold medalist, won the Trischa L. Zorn Award for best performance of the year by an adapted swimmer.

Ron Van Pool received the USA Swimming Award for the most outstanding contribution to the sport.